Sinn Fein's Leader Urges IRA
To Cease Its Armed Struggle

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams called on the Irish Republican Army to abandon its armed struggle and pursue the unification of Ireland through purely political means, in what he described as "a defining moment" for the Republican movement.

Mr. Adams, a former IRA commander and now head of its political wing, said in a prepared statement that: "In the past I have defended the right of the IRA to engage in armed struggle....Now there is an alternative." He was referring to the peace process in Northern Ireland...